Did Muhammad Respect the Qur'an?

In December 2005 I wrote the essay
‘Muhammad Had Violated the Qur'an’. Since its publication I have
received countless hate mails from irate Muslims. Here, I am sharing
with the readers one of the latest hate mails.

Tusuka Shani wrote:

This is in reply to your essay about The
Prophet Mohammed (SAW) violated the Quran.

With respect to breaking the ruling for sex
and foreplay during the fast;

You idiot, now where does the Quran say that
foreplay and kissing break the fast, the Quran says that SEX breaks
the fast. All the Hadith say he kissed his wives. NONE Say that he
had sex with them.

With Respect to breaking the ruling on Dower
for marriage;

The Hadith clearly state that he gave her her
freedom as a dower. Your right that the Quran doesn't state that
freedom can be used as a dower, but the Quran also doesn't state
that: £5000, £6000, £7000, a nice two-storey villa, an expensive
gold jewellery set, a 300 SQ metre land, a luxury three bedroom flat
etc. can be used as dowry, so just because the quran doesn't give an
infinite list and you suggesting that all the above mentioned are
not valid dowries?

With respect to breaking the ruling on the
waiting period for marriage;

The Quran's rulings only apply to MUSLIM
women!

Now that these have been explained, I
CHALLENGE you to post this email on your website if you ain't a
COWARD!

Here are my pertinent answers:

This is in reply to your essay about The
Prophet Mohammed (SAW) violated the Quran.

With respect to breaking the ruling for sex
and foreplay during the fast;

You idiot, now where does the Quran say that
foreplay and kissing break the fast, the Quran says that SEX breaks
the fast. All the Hadith say he kissed his wives. NONE Say that he
had sex with them.

So what? Read 2:187 again,
especially:

… and eat and
drink, until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from
its black thread; then complete your fast Till the night appears;
but do not associate with your wives while ye are in retreat in the
mosques. Those are Limits (set by) Allah: Approach not nigh thereto.
Thus doth Allah make clear His Signs to men: that they may learn
self-restraint.

This verse prohibits sexual
intercourse and anything like kissing or embracing that might lead
to it during Itikaf. Not only that, Allah warns the fasting Muslims
not to indulge in those acts that may lead to sexual intercourse.
Kissing and fondling are certainly preludes to sexual intercourse.

This is similar to the verses on
wine drinking. Unlike clear prohibition on pork meat, there is no
verse that clearly states the prohibition on wine drinking. There is
no verse that says Muslims cannot prepare, distribute, sell or trade
in alcoholic drinks. All the verses on wine drinking says ‘to avoid’
wine. Even so, other activities related to alcoholic drinks are also
banned, because of the fear that these activities may eventually
lead Muslims to indulge in consuming alcohol.

That is why no Muslim will involve
himself in anything that pertains to alcoholic drinks—not even to
touch a glass of wine, whisky, brandy or beer.

Ditto: for kissing and fondling a
woman during the fasting period.

Show me a verse that says that
kissing and fondling a woman during the fasting hour is exempt.

With
Respect to breaking the ruling on Dower for marriage;

The
Hadith clearly state that he gave her her freedom as a dower.
Your right that the Quran doesn't state that freedom can be used
as a dower, but the Quran also doesn't state that: £5000, £6000,
£7000, a nice two-storey villa, an expensive gold jewellery set,
a 300 SQ metre land, a luxury three bedroom flat etc. can be
used as dowry, so just because the quran doesn't give an
infinite list and you suggesting that all the above mentioned
are not valid dowries?

I am happy, you have answered
correctly. That is why I said the Qur'an does not say that freeing a
slave may be construed as dowry to her for marriage.

It is your interpretation that has
saved my time.

With
respect to breaking the ruling on the waiting period for
marriage;

The
Quran's rulings only apply to MUSLIM women!

Are you kidding? The sirah tells us
that Muhammad advised his men to have sex with their captive women
after these women had one period—that is, roughly one month, in many
cases.

In the case of Safiyya, Muhammad
took her to his bed on the very night he captured her. Then, after
she converted to Islam, Muhammad married her. He did not wait even
for a month. A few hadith, though, say that after marriage Muhammad
sent her to some woman’s quarter to finish her ‘waiting period’ or
idda.

Now that
these have been explained, I CHALLENGE you to post this email on
your website if you ain't a COWARD!

I do not own any website. If you
wish you may send this reply to any website.

This is the reply from Tusuka Shani:

You
haven't understood Islam. If the Quran doesn't specifically
state whether or not not fondling, kissing is exempt during the
fast AND only States that SEXUAL INTERCOURSE is forbidden we
take the example of the PROPHET. This was the very point of the
prophet existing that he is an example. Why do you thing Aisha
narrated that the prophet used to kiss her and fondle her while
fasting, because that tells us that it is PERMISSIBLE. How can
Mohammed contradict the teachings while he IS THE TEACHER! Your
argument makes no sense.

You
haven't refuted my argument on the dowry, your reply makes NO
SENSE . Are you admitting that you are wrong?

Provide
proof of these alleged Hadith. Moreover you haven't refuted my
argument. Safiya was a none Muslim so the waiting periods do not
apply to her.

Here are my pertinent answers:

Why do
you thing Aisha narrated that the prophet used to kiss her and
fondle her while fasting, because that tells us that it is
PERMISSIBLE.

This is precisely against the
Qur'an; that is, Muhammad’s example was against the two last
sentences of verse 2:187. You are right to say that Muhammad set the
example of violating the Qur'an. Aisha has nothing to do with the
Qur'an. Allah did not reveal Qur'an to Aisha. She is not responsible
for Muhammad’s acts. She merely stated what Muhammad did to her
during the fasting hours.

How can Mohammed contradict the
teachings while he IS THE TEACHER! Your argument makes no sense.

If Muhammad IS THE TEACHER then
Allah must be his student! Does Allah observe fast? Does Allah kiss
young women during fasting hours?

2) You
haven't refuted my argument on the dowry, your reply makes NO
SENSE . Are you admitting that you are wrong?

What I mean is: if you are correct
then I am also correct—and if you are wrong then I am also wrong.
This is because; the verse on mahr is unclear about using a captive
woman’s manumission as her mahr to marry her. Except for Muhammad, I
haven’t found any such example elsewhere. If Allah had approved such
a provision we would have seen many such examples.

3)
Provide proof of these alleged Hadith. Moreover you haven't
refuted my argument. Safiya was a none Muslim so the waiting
periods do not apply to her.

All right, here are a few ahadith
for your perusal.

Safiyya accepted Islam in the
presence of Muhammad:

Extracts from The Life of
Muhammad, Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, Translated into English
by Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and Abdulkader Tayeb with an
introduction by Rizwi Faizer and Andrew Rippin. Published by
Rutledge (2011)

p. 348:

Anas said: We
turned with the Messenger of God from Khaybar and he desired to go
to Wadi al-Qura. Some people wanted to ask the Messenger of God
about Safiyya when he passed with her and threw his cloak upon her.
Then he proposed Islam to her and said, “If you will be in your
religion, we will not compel you: but if you chose God and His
Messenger I will take you for myself.” She replied, “Rather I will
choose God and His Messenger.” He manumitted her and he married her,
and her freedom was her marriage price—mahr.

Also [the same page]:

When they were
in al-Sahba’ he said to Umm Sulaym: Watch over the companion of
yours and comb her! He desired to marry her there. So Umm Sulaym
rose. Anas said: We had neither tents nor canopies. So she took two
garments [Page 708] two woollen wraps and hid them with those at a
tree. She combed Safiyya and perfumed her and the Messenger of God
married here there.

And here is more (p. 349): [This
happened after Muhammad returned with Safiyya.to Medina from Khaybar]

Aisha went out
disguised until she entered upon Safiyya and with her were women
from the Ansar. She looked at her, and Aisha was veiled, but the
Messenger of God knew her. When she went out the Messenger of God
returned to her. He said, “O Aisha, how did you like Safiyya?” She
said, “I did not see her long. I saw a Jewish woman, among Jewish
women—she meant her aunts and paternal and maternal. But I was
informed you loved her and this is better for her than if she were
beautiful.” He said, “O Aisha, do not say this for surely I proposed
Islam to her and she was swift to convert. Her Islam is good.”

Waiting period to have sex with
a captive slave woman

A Muslim may have sexual
intercourse with a captive woman after she is clear of her period
and/or delivery. If she has a husband then her marriage is annulled
immediately after she becomes a captive (Ref. 4:24)…Sahih Muslim
8.3432

Sahih Muslim, Book 008, Number
3432:

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri
(Allah her pleased with him) reported that at the Battle of Hanain
Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) sent an army to Autas and
encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and
taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's Messenger (may peace
te upon him) seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive
women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most
High, sent down regarding that:" And women already married, except
those whom your right hands possess (iv. 24)" (i. e. they were
lawful for them when their 'Idda period came to an end).

Waiting periods for pregnant
captives is till she delivers; waiting time for other captive (those
who are not pregnant) women—one menstruation period…Sunaan Abu Dawud
2.11.2152

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri
traced to the Prophet (may peace be upon him) the following
statement regarding the captives taken at Awtas: There must be no
intercourse with a pregnant woman till she gives birth to her child,
or with one who is not pregnant till she has one menstrual period.

In a footnote (number 1481)
professor Ahmad Hasan writes:

The tradition
clearly indicates that the master of a slave woman should wait till
one menstrual period or till the birth of child.

The waiting period of divorced
slave woman is two period courses...Sunaan Abu Dawud 12.2184

Book 12, Number 2184:

Narrated
Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him)
said: The divorce of a slave-woman consists in saying it twice and
her waiting period is two menstrual courses (qur') AbuAsim said: A
similar tradition has been narrated to me by Muzahir and al-Qasim on
the authority of Aisha from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), except
that he said: And her waiting period ('iddah) is two courses.

You may say that this provision did
not apply to Safiyya. While this may be true, Safiyya was a captive
sex-slave. So her waiting period, as per hadis number 2152, should
be one period or about a month.

Do not marry slave-girls of the
people of the Book…Malik’s Muwatta 28.16.38a

Malik’s Muwatta, Book 28, Number
28.16.38a:

Malik said,
"It is not halal to marry a Christian or Jewish slave-girl because
Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'Believing women
who are muhsanat and women of those who were given the Book before
you who are muhsanat', (sura 5 ayat 6) and they are free women from
the Christians and Jews. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in
His Book, 'If you are not affluent enough to marry believing women
who are muhsanat, take believing slave-girls whom your right hands
own.' " (Sura 4 ayat 24)

Malik said,
"In our opinion, Allah made marriage to believing slave-girls halal,
and He did not make halal marriage to Christian and Jewish
slave-girls from the People of the Book."

Malik said,
"The Christian and Jewish slave-girl are halal for their master by
right of possession, but intercourse with a magian slave-girl is not
halal by the right of possession."

This hadis is clear enough: it
tells us that Muhammad could not marry a Jewsih Safiyya until she
had converted to Islam.

And here is another hadis from
Jami’At Tirmidhi

On the day of Awtas some Muslim
soldiers disliked to have sex with the captive women in the presence
of their husbands. So Allah revealed: ‘And women already married,
except those whom your right hands possess (4:24)’…[Jami’ At-Tirmidhi
5.3016, English translation by Abu Khaliyl, Final review by Islamic
Research Section Darussalam, Darussalam, P.O. Box 22743, Riyadh
11416, Saudi Arabia, First Ed. November 2007]

Jami’ At Tirmidhi, Volume V, hadis
3016:

Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri
said: On the Day of Awtas, we captured some women who had husbands
among the idolaters. So some of the men disliked that, so Allah,
Most High, revealed: And women already married, except those whom
your right hands possess…[footnote] (Sahih)

[Abu ‘Eisa
said:] This Hadith is Hasan

In the footnote the editor of the
English version of Jami’ At Tirmidhi writes:

(Comments: For
a solution and as a permanent principle regarding war captives,
particularly those who are given a female captive as their share
from the spoils of war, even though her non believer and polytheist
husband is alive; the recipient was allowed to have sexual
intercourse with her after finding out the condition of her womb.
The term ‘finding out the clear condition of the womb’ means to wait
for her to have one menstrual cycle. If she menstruates then sexual
intercourse with her will be allowed after her menses; and if she is
pregnant, then the delivery of the pregnancy will be awaited.
P.5.331).

Finally, here is a hadis that tells
us that Muhammad bought Safiyya as a sex slave from Dhiya al-Kalibi.
So, all the rules on having sex with a sex-slave were applicable to
Muhammad.

Muhammad was a slave trader; he
bought Safiyya from Dhiya al-Kalbi for seven slaves…Ibn Majah 3.2272

This hadis has been extracted from
the English translation of Sunaan Ibn Majah by Muhammad Tufail
Ansari. Publisher: Kitab Bhavan, 1784 Kalan Mahal, Daraya Ganj, New
Delhi-110002, India.1994. ISBN: 81-7151-193-7

Sunaan Ibn Majah, Volume 3, hadis
2272:

Anas (Allah be
pleased with him) is reported to have said that the Holy Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) purchased Safiya, (the
wife of the Prophet), for seven slaves.

‘Abdur Rahman
said: (He purchased her) from Dihya al-Kalbi.

According to
al-Zawaid, its isnad is sahih and its authorities are reliable.

With all the above proofs from the
founts of Islam I have demonstrated that Safiyya did convert to
Islam. Before she became a Muslim she was a captive sex-slave to
Muhammad, and as such, the waiting period to have sex with her was
one period or roughly a month. After her conversion to Islam, as per
Islamic rule, her waiting period should have been three menstrual
cycles. But Muhammad had wilfully violated these provisions.

If you have no objection, I intend
to publish our discussion in a few websites, after some minor
editing.

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Note: It has been almost a month
I did not receive any response from Tusuka Shani.